• The Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils, 3-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden to extend their winning streak to three games. New York is now 4-2-1 overall, including a 1-1-1 mark at home.

• New York is now 14-5-2 vs. the Devils since the start of the 2007-08 season, including a 8-2-1 mark at MSG during the stretch.

• Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves to improve to 3-2-1 on the season, including a 1-1-1 mark at home. Lundqvist is now 19-7-5 with a 1.89 goals against average, .934 save percentage and four shutouts in 31 career regular season appearances vs. New Jersey.

• Ryan Callahan notched the game winning goal on the power play, his first goal of the season, at 12:22 of the second period, and added an assist on Dubinsky’s empty net goal with one second remaining. He has now tallied at least one point in each of the last three contests, registering four points (one goal and three assists) over the span, and is now tied for second on the team with five assists and six points. Callahan also led all skaters with seven hits and tied for the game-high with four blocked shots in 22:47 of ice time.

• Brandon Dubinsky registered his third multi-point performance of the season with two points, including the primary assist on Callahan’s power play, game-winner, and an empty net goal with one second remaining. He ranks first on the team in scoring with four goals and seven points in seven games. Dubinsky also led all forwards with 23:36 of ice time, and now leads all team forwards in average ice time (21:41) on the season.

• After a scoreless first period, Michal Rozsival opened the game’s scoring with an even strength goal at 1:26 of the middle frame, and added a power play assist on Callahan’s game winning goal. Rozsival extended his scoring streak to three games, registering four points (one goal and three assists) over the span. He leads all team defensemen in goals (two), assists (four) and points (six), and is tied for second on the team in points, ranks third in assists and is tied for fourth in goals.

• Ruslan Fedotenko and Sean Avery each recorded an assist on Rozsival’s even strength goal at 1:26 of the second period. Fedotenko tallied the primary assist, and registered three shots in 14:15 of ice time. Avery also recorded three shots on goal, and is now tied for the team lead with five assists on the season.

• Michael Del Zotto led all skaters with a plus-two rating and a career-high, 28:38 of ice time, and registered six hits and four shots in the contest. Del Zotto ranks second on the team in hits (22) and average ice time (24:40).

• Dan Girardi tied for the game-high with four blocked shots and logged 27:42 of ice time. He is now tied for second in the NHL with a team-high, 24 blocked shots on the season, and ranks third on the team in average ice time (24:03).

• Forward Jeremy Williams made his Rangers debut in tonight’s contest after being recalled from Hartford (AHL) earlier today.

• Brandon Prust registered five hits and logged 16:50 of ice time after leaving last night’s game at Boston early with an eye injury.

• The Blueshirts do not have practice scheduled for tomorrow. The Rangers’ next practice is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 26, at the MSG Training Center.

• The Rangers will return to action on Wednesday, October 27, when they will face-off against the Atlanta Thrashers at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the second game of their three-game homestand. The game will be televised live on MSG Plus, and can be heard on Bloomberg Radio.

POST-GAME QUOTES

John Tortorella on the team concept… “We have talked a lot about trying to continue to create an identity on how we are going to play as a team and along the way when you are trying to build that you get some wins. I think that it’s an easier sell as far as what we want to do as a hockey club, how we are going to play the game so hopefully we will continue. You go through the momentums and there will be some down times and you just have to grab a hold of it and remember what we are as a hockey club. We are really concentrating on that as far as the things we need to do to create our identity.”

Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game… “You need some luck, in tight games; you need that extra bounce and tonight we had it. I think we earned it for working so hard the whole game. We played simple and hard. The guys have been working really hard and it’s paying off. We are finishing checks a little more and guys are skating harder, a lot of blocked shots; we are really paying the price the last couple of games and it’s great to see.”

Ryan Callahan on doing the little things… “That’s what I try to do. I try to be good on the puck, be really good on the fore-check, take the body and do what I can. Obviously, I want to chip in with the goals when I can too, but when that’s not going well, you definitely have to concentrate on the other things and when you do that, you start to get bounces toward the net and start getting more chances.”

Rick Carpiniello, 26, was born and raised in Harrison and began working in The Journal News' sports department (back when it was The Reporter Dispatch and eight other newspapers) in October of 1977 after a year of covering high school sports as a stringer. In 1978 he began covering the New York Rangers and the National Hockey League. Carpiniello has been writing columns on everything from local sports to the big leagues since 2002.